Sinema Amnesia's Ulysses: A Visual Epic of Ultra-Recent History

Enter Mark Wallinger’s small theater on the shore of the Dardanelles, and you’ll see a live video feed of the straits outside. Kind of. Actually, the British artist’s installation, titled “Sinema Amnesia,” screens footage of the water from precisely 24 hours earlier: an endless parade of ships and ferries that’s exactly—and not at all—like the one flowing past at that moment. By carving out ultra-recent history (yesterday), the piece seems to point out what’s changed and what hasn’t at the ancient site. And it puts a welcome utilitarian burnish on the myths.

"Sinema Amnesia" by Mark Wallinger, 2010. Commisioned by British Council, Turkey for the city of the Canakkale. Photos by Murat Aksu.